Saturday, July 11, 2015

Does this weekend -- filled w/ events that have seen better days -- matter?

Perhaps
it’s all too appropriate that the Taste of Chicago and the Crosstown Classic
(the silly pseudo-title given to the times of year when the Chicago White Sox
take on the Chicago Cubs) are both taking place this weekend.

Will this be accurate again soon?

I
didn’t feel the need to make it out to either event in person because they both
seem like they have experienced better days. Even though they would have been distractions from the political nonsense that has taken up too much of our attention in recent weeks.

AS
FOR THE Taste of Chicago, the event was interesting enough that I had a cousin
who felt compelled to go; in large part because it was a chance to see and hear
Erykah Badu perform live.

Then
again, she is from San Antonio, Texas, and was in town for the week as a
tourist. Which means she was probably in similar company.

The
Taste of Chicago just doesn’t seem the same as its glory days of the 1980s into
the early 1990s when major restaurants all used their political clout to be
included and it was a part of the way Chicago celebrated Independence Day.

Now,
it’s just a shell – only five days, and scaled back to the point where I
suspect there are suburban festivals that come across as more interesting.
Maybe even the Air Show in Gary, Ind., that may wind up costing the city government
more money than it brings in?

THEN,
THERE’S THE head-to-head competition between Chicago’s two major league ball
clubs – the mediocre Cubs vs. the grossly underachieving White Sox.

Not
exactly the matchup that’s going to inspire anyone to care – except for the
fact that it provokes the standard South Side vs. North Side rivalry that
exists in just about every aspect of Chicago’s nature.

Now
I don’t know if I agree with one-time Chicago Tribune sports columnist Bernie
Lincicome, who wrote a commentary for Friday implying that the match-up is lame
and never mattered worth squat. Even though I’ll agree that interleague play
feels like a distraction from the regular season games that matter!

BADU: The weekend's highlight?

I’d
agree to the degree that being able to say you’ve beaten up on the Cubs isn’t
any great achievement – every other ball club does the exact same thing. Why
should this series be any different?

BUT
THE FACT that neither of these teams is in any serious contention makes the
matchup seem all the more cheap. It would be sad if the White Sox wind up
saying that their Friday 1-0 victory was the season’s highlight. (A hit
batsman, a stolen base, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly provided the lone
run – Wee Willie Keeler would have been proud).

I
didn’t even feel compelled to watch much of Friday’s White Sox victory on
television. I actually caught a portion of a rerun where Buffy beat up on some
ridiculous demon once again, before changing the channel to WGN where I caught
the end of the White Sox’ broadcast.

The
Cubs’ broadcast, by comparison, was relegated to Comcast Sports Network. Now I
realize times have changed and the W-G-N call letters are no longer synonymous
with baby blue baseball, but it still feels like a flawed juxtaposition.

I
may not catch any of the other games. I have family obligations (my other relatives
beckon on Saturday) that may keep me away from a television.

BESIDES,
WHAT COULD have been the key baseball story of the series won’t happen. White
Sox pitcher Jeff Samardzija last pitched on Thursday against the Toronto Blue
Jays (winning 2-0). The former Chicago Cub from Valparaiso, Ind., won’t go
against his former ball club.

That
would have been interesting, because I wonder if the Cubs who fantasize that
they still have a shot at a playoff spot this season ought to try to acquire
Samardzija from the White Sox, who may wind up unloading ballplayers in hopes
of saving money and picking up potential prospects for the future.

Will Chris Sale be the star of Tuesday's game?

It
would be hilarious if Samardzija (who was supposed to bolster White Sox
pitching for their ’15 pennant chances) wound up accomplishing the same thing
for the Cubs instead.

Besides,
the real meaning of this series is that we’re at the unofficial mid-point of
the baseball season – the All Star Game will be played Tuesday in Cincinnati.
Maybe the second half won’t be quite as depressing.

I am a Chicago-area freelance writer who has reported on various political and legal beats. I wrote "Hispanic" issues columns for United Press International, observed up close the Statehouse Scene in Springfield, Ill., the Cook County Board in Chicago and municipal government in places like Calumet City, Ill., and Gary, Ind. For a time, I also wrote about agriculture. Trust me when I say the symbolic stench of partisan politics (particularly when directed against people due to their ethnicity) is far nastier than any odor that could come from a farm animal.